'Did We Pay The Light Bill, B*tch?': Lizzo Performs Through Technical Difficulties In Melbourne

Lizzo faced a ten-minute lighting outage at last night’s Rod Laver Arena show (17 July), but she pulled through the incident like a star does: by performing in the dark and still putting on a show.

News.com.au reports that when Lizzo approached the 19th song of her set (per Setlist.fm), Truth Hurts, the stage and spotlights looked to go out, plunging the Melbourne audience into darkness for at least ten minutes.

“Can the lights come back on?” Lizzo said before joking, “Did we pay the light bill, bitch?”

Truth Hurts, a three-time Platinum hit in Australia, was performed entirely in the dark – only the fans closest to the stage could see the elaborate choreography and flute playing on display.

Once the lights did come back on, Lizzo decided that her fans, who paid upwards of $100, deserved the real Special experience, treating the audience to an encore performance of Truth Hurts. You can check out footage from the gig below.

Following the rendition of Truth Hurts 2.0, Lizzo capped off her set with I Love You Bitch (remix), Good As Hell and About Damn Time, with a flute interlude to boot. Lizzo opened her first of two nights at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena with the grand Cuz I Love You, straight into Juice and 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready).

Fans took to social media in reaction to the technical difficulties last night. “Lizzo made me emotional tonight,” one fan wrote on Twitter. “She sang Truth Hurts twice because the lights were out the first time. She’s a legend and an icon.”

Another praised Lizzo’s work ethic, writing, “I tell ya @lizzo is out here WORKING holy shit what a show! At one point the lights stopped working for a whole song and when they got them back up she said fuck it we’re taking it AGAIN. She is unstoppable”.

Posting footage of when the lights went out, another fan said Lizzo “slayed” even with the technical difficulties afoot.

Lizzo made me emotional tonight. I involuntarily wept three times. Her band, her vocalists, her dancers are so incredible. What they’re doing, how they’re doing it is so powerful. She sang Truth Hurts twice because the lights were out the first time. She’s a legend and an icon. pic.twitter.com/9nzt1h1E2k

— brenna (@unethicalquack) July 17, 2023

I tell ya @lizzo is out here WORKING holy shit what a show! At one point the lights stopped working for a whole song and when they got them back up she said fuck it we’re taking it AGAIN. She is unstoppable 😤

— Luna || Luboffin 🔜 #PAXAus (@luboffin) July 17, 2023

The lights went out at Rod Laver Arena and @lizzo still slayed 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ByT3rTgaBj

— Kate Pattison (@katepatto) July 17, 2023

Lizzo’s Special Australian tour continues tonight in Melbourne before she appears as a headliner at Splendour In The Grass on Friday (21 July), followed by two concerts at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena (23 and 24 July) and a gig at Auckland’s Spark Arena on 26 July.

Here, you can check out The Music’s review of her first stop in Australia on the Special tour at Perth’s RAC Arena.